A brand’s ‘identity’ is analogous to a person’s identity: it consists largely of their values, personality and beliefs. The public-facing aspect of a brand reflects its core essence in a tangible and graphic way to audiences. While Marketing seeks to define the vision, strategy and structure of a brand, Graphic Designers are the visual professionals who have the responsibility of translating and marrying the positioning concepts of the brand with its identity into visual media. The more designers are involved in developing the strategy of the brand in synergy with marketing and senior leadership, the more successful the visual identity will be in enhancing customer recognition, acceptance and adoption of the brand.

It is ironic that the skilled activities of graphic designers to join brand positioning, identity and marketing strategy into a cohesive visual representation is exactly what has led to the misperception among the general public that a brand is a logo or advertising or packaging. Advertising and logos are soon forgotten, but the true essence of a brand is what stays with the customer after the visual reminder is no longer present.

Where graphic design (and to a lesser extent, marketing) has been criticized in the past is the lack of business discipline with which it seems to be practiced — it’s always been a “right-brained thing” — I believe differently. I believe there is a need to blend creativity with structure in a whole-brain approach. Going further, the most effective design is created through graphic design analysis based on attributes such as color theory, customer profiling and current trends. This takes the form of a developed research and design methodology to ensure that the necessary reference foundation is established for visual development including:

• Understand the background of the company/product/service as well as customer perceptions of it through market research
• Gain a sense of the overall marketplace and competitive universe
• Develop a profile of the typical customer(s) to understand their lifestyle needs and wants in relation to the company/product/service
• Conduct color and stylistic preference research on the target demographic groups to ensure that the graphic directions that are developed gain acceptance with the target groups
  

Far from restricting creativity, it is within a properly constructed scientific and business-oriented framework that breakthrough creativity and innovation can flourish.

In a world crowded with brands all vying for the ever shrinking attention span of the consumer (and on the B2B side, the business buyer), it only makes sense that the way brands rise above the noise is by 1) exuding the attributes that matter to the customer and continuing to delight them with each interaction and 2) leveraging technology to reach the buyer wherever they may be. While tighter budgets have meant more marketing resources have been pushed into lead-generation initiatives (a short-term focus) over brand-building activities (a long-term focus), marketing program design that is truly driven by audience needs can serve both ends. A well-engineered, process-driven marketing strategy connected with the company’s brand values, consistent visual execution with innovative graphic design and an almost maniacal focus on delighting the customer means the building blocks of future reputation will be set while near-term financial goals are achieved.

In fact, in companies where brand reputation is valued, the company’s leadership strives to maintain that reputation through practices that help create a unique identity and project a consistent and cohesive set of images and values to their audiences and customers. These practices include:

• Develop ad campaigns that promote the company as a whole, not just its products, services or “brands”
• Complete ambitious programs that champion quality and customer service with a focus on not just keeping the customer happy, but delighting them at every turn
• Maintain control systems to screen employee activity for their positive and potentially negative impact on the company reputation
• Demonstrate environmental sensitivity, because it is both socially responsible and because these actions mesh with marketing programs to drive sales
• Hire internal staff and use specialized PR agencies to cultivate communications through the media
• Continually demonstrate “corporate citizenship” through sponsored philanthropy, pro-bono work and other community involvement
  

These practices are essential to long-term reputation building as well as reflecting short-term self-interest and create economic value for the corporate brand by reinforcing the company’s position and differentiation versus the competition.